Hijacker frees 77 passengers, demands asylum in Cyprus

Larnaca, Cyprus – A hijacker who diverted an EgyptAir flight to Cyprus on Tuesday has released everyone on board except four foreign passengers and the crew, the airline said on Twitter. RELEASED – A bus carrying some passengers from the hijacked EgyptAir makes its way from the tarmac after the plane landed at Larnaca Airport Tuesday in Cyprus. (AP) The Egypt Air plane was headed from the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria to Cairo with 81 passengers on board when it was seized, Egyptian civil aviation said. “The Airbus A-320 carrying 81 passengers and flying between Alexandria and Cairo was hijacked. The pilot said that a passenger told him he had an explosives vest and forced the plane to land in Larnaca,” a ministry statement said. Egyptian civil aviation said the hijacker had threatened to detonate an explosives belt. The still unidentified hijacker was reported by state radio as demanding [...]